21st November 1916 Tuesday

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Today in what seems like an act of either folly or extreme bravery, Lt Douglas Page presented himself once more to the War Office and signed on again for another tour of duty. He was not alone in this act of loyalty, many young men having survived the term of their contract, volunteered yet again to serve their country. This time though there was a distinct difference from November 1915. Douglas was under no illusion of what war would be like. He had already been through a year of horror. Clearly it wasn’t all terrible. Even in the midst of adversity there were some fun times. The pretty girls, Madame Zeppelin, Christmas dinner and Hogmanay in the trenches. He felt slightly torn leaving his comrades behind and obviously felt he had more to offer, saving lives on the battlefields.

“Next day – November 21st – I reported at the War Office, and signed on for another year’s service in Egypt this time, just for variety, I was granted leave until December 5th.

After visiting old billet friends at Epsom, I left King’s Cross for Auld Reekie at 11.30pm in a very crowded train which was 1½ hours late in getting into Edinburgh.”

Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here